RESIDENTIAL STATUS, DRUG USE, HEALTH AMONG IMPOVERISHED WOMEN

描述(由申请人提供)：较好的居住状况，如与无家可归和拥有稳定的住所相反，与更好的健康相关。毒品使用、艾滋病毒/艾滋病、暴力和精神健康是贫困妇女中严重且相互重叠的问题。这些健康问题在多大程度上与贫困妇女的居住状况相关，受到的关注有限，但这些数据可能会为创新的预防和干预战略提供参考，并可能进一步强调住房是国家的公共卫生优先事项。我们建议进行一项小型、有时间限制的研究，将定量和定性方法结合起来，以达到提高我们对贫困妇女居住状况与毒品使用、艾滋病毒危险行为(即危险性行为)、暴力和心理健康之间关系的理解的目标，并将作为未来研究居住状况与贫困妇女健康之间关系的实验工作的基础。具体目标：1.通过对来自洛杉矶县收容所的402名贫困妇女的随机抽样的纵向结构化访谈数据进行二次分析，了解贫困妇女的居住状况与健康(即吸毒、艾滋病毒危险行为、暴力受害、心理健康)之间的关系。2.与洛杉矶县向贫困妇女提供住房、住所和其他服务的社区提供者一起举办焦点小组(2至3个小组，每个小组6至8人)，以(A)了解社区范围内贫困妇女的居住地位与健康之间的定量联系，(B)了解当地提供者和政策制定者目前如何在社区处理这些联系，以及(C)探索在社区开展试验性试验的可行性，以测试居住地位与健康之间的关系。该项目将以发表学术论文和在当地发表演讲而告终，并计划进行一项试验性试验，以更严格地测试洛杉矶县贫困女性的居住状况与健康之间的关系。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Better residential status, such as being housed as opposed to being homeless and having a stable residence, has been associated with better health. Drug use, HIV/AIDS, violence, and mental health are serious, overlapping issues among impoverished women. The extent to which these health issues are associated with residential status among impoverished women has received limited attention, yet such data might inform innovative prevention and intervention strategies and could serve to further highlight housing as a public health priority for the nation. We propose a small, time-limited study that blends quantitative and qualitative approaches to achieve the goal of improving our understanding of the relationship between residential status and drug use, HIV risk behaviors (i.e., risky sex), violence, and mental health among impoverished women, and that will serve as a foundation for future experimental work examining the relationship between residential status and health in this population. Specific Aims: 1. Understand the relationship between residential status and health (i.e., drug use, HIV risk behaviors, victimization by violence, mental health) among impoverished women through secondary analyses of longitudinal structured interview data gathered from a probability sample of 402 impoverished women interviewed in shelters in Los Angeles County. 2. Conduct focus groups (2 to 3 groups, 6-8 participants each) with community-based providers of housing, shelter, and other services to impoverished women in Los Angeles County to (a) understand quantitative associations between residential status and health among impoverished women within a community context, (b) understand how the associations can be currently addressed in the community by local providers and policymakers, and (c) explore the feasibility of fielding an experimental trial in the community to test the relationship between residential status and health. This project will culminate with a scholarly publication and local presentation, and plans to field an experimental trial to more rigorously test a relationship between residential status and health among impoverished women in Los Angeles County.